You can help prepare our beautiful public lakefront gem and the Waterfront Trail corridor for a long season of picnics, recreation, concerts, and relaxation. Join FSP Saturday, March 30, from 9am to 11am for a morning of spring cleaning. Volunteers will meet in the parking lot between the two main pavilions to help collect litter and do some light gardening. Bring a trash bag and gardening gloves, and together we'll practice good stewardship of our city park! FSP will be joined by many of our waterfront partners, including Friends of Newman, the Farmers Market, GreenStar, Ithaca Dragon Boat Club, TCDOG, and many others.

Families and community members are encouraged to participate in Cayuga Bird Club's nest box building event on Saturday, March 30 at Stewart Park. CBC will be building nest boxes to attract cavity-nesting birds such as Prothonotary Warblers for Stewart Park and Jetty Woods/Lighthouse Point.

They will also will have wood and supplies on hand for families/groups to construct and take home nest boxes that might be used by chickadees, nuthatches or wrens, for $10 each.

If you would like to build a nest box to take home, please reserve ahead of time by emailing Jody Enck by March 25 so they have enough supplies on hand. The club will also be putting up a large Purple Martin House at Stewart Park in April; that house will be on display at this bird house building event, along with information about nesting habits of different birds, including Purple Martins. The Cayuga Bird Club's Nest Box Build will be held in Wharton building near the new playground at Stewart Park, 9am - 10:30am.

Will Russell will be doing the sound engineering and La Tourelle will host this special event.

The concert supports Friends of Stewart Park's plans to recreate the historic performance venue in Stewart Park between the Picnic 'Large' Pavilion and the Wharton Studio/Park Maintenance Building. In the early days of Renwick Park and Stewart Park there was a beautiful bandshell between the Pavilions that hosted well-attended nightly summer concerts, often featuring the renowned Paddy Conway Orchestra. FSP would like to create the Renwick Performance Plaza with a Cayuga Lake Overlook on the lake edge, between the Pavilions, an area that is currently a parking lot.

Ithaca Reggae Fest is dedicated to the protection of Cayuga Lake through a conscious celebration of Ithaca’s legendary reggae community and its history. 2019 marks the festivals third year and will take place on Saturday June 29th from 11 AM to 10 PM in Stewart Park with an Official Pre-Party Friday June 28th at 7 PM and Official After-Party Saturday June 29th at 10 PM at The Haunt.

Save the Date for Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum's 4th annual Party for the Park to celebrate exciting ongoing revitalization of Stewart Park in anticipation of the park's centennial in 2021! The evening in the Picnic Pavilion in Stewart Park features delicious food, cocktails, and live music. More details to come!

The Cherry’s premiere production of the 2018/19 season! The Missing Chapter by Katie Marks & Aoise Stratford is a brand new “headphone walking play” based on Ithaca’s silent film past, produced in collaboration with Wharton Studio Museum with support from Friends of Stewart Park. It runs August 31–September 9 and walks begin at the Stewart Park Pavilion every 15 minutes from 4-7pm.

The Missing Chapter introduces audiences to Wharton Studio heroine Beatrice Fairfax, advice columnist for the lovelorn… and amateur sleuth. As Beatrice solves crime in the heady days of the women’s suffrage movement, we stroll Stewart Park and investigate “missing chapters” in the history of our own community.

Audience members who participated in Storm Country, The Cherry’s original headphone walking play, will recall the thrill of traversing Ithaca by foot while being immersed in a theatrical experience like no other.

This year we’re celebrating Ithaca’s own Wharton, Inc. Studio’s “Beatrice Fairfax” serial, as well as an episode of the popular 1914 serial “Perils of Pauline.” With original music composed and performed by Cloud Chamber Orchestra.

Movie starts just after 8pm. Bring a picnic, some wine, a chair and a blanket, and enjoy the film.

You're invited to the first-ever Community Carnival at Stewart Park on August 21, 2018 from 3:00–6:00 PM!

Come and enjoy a savory barbecue chicken dinner from Dave "King of the Grill" Hatfield and nostalgic frozen treats from Meg-a-Moo's Ice Cream, all at old-fashioned prices; live music by Upstate New York's premiere hot club jazz band Djug Django; free carousel rides and activities like prize wheels, stomp rockets, and Pin the Tail on the Kid President; juggling and balloon animals by Frank S. Towner; a visit from the Ithaca Physics Bus, and much more!

This fun, free, family-friendly event is being hosted by eleven different local non-profit organizations, all of whom are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year.

Join Us to Celebrate the Opening of the Accessible Carousel Chariot & Ramp!

We are pleased to complete the Carousel Restoration project by celebrating the opening of a newly constructed and painted accessible Carousel Chariot along with an access ramp. Beginning in 2016, the Carousel and its horses have been re-painted by local artists Christi Sobel and Julia John, and a new black steel fence has been installed.

Special thanks to Christi Sobel for painting the Chariot, Tim Merrick for chariot construction and design assistance, Play by Design for leading volunteer build of the accessible ramp, Danielle Fuld for her generous financial support and City of Ithaca staff members Rob Lilly and Jeanne Grace.

From its earliest use by the Cayuga Nation, the beautiful lakeside site that is now Stewart Park has a fascinating history. Originally known as Renwick Park, its main pavilions date back to the late 1890's. Soon thereafter, the park became a private amusement park featuring dance and picnic pavilions, a bandstand, and a beautiful water tower. In the 1910's a booming movie studio produced scores of silent films there. Explore the buildings and sites that capture the history of the park—and hear plans for its ongoing revitalization—on a guided walking tour led by Friends of Stewart Park’s Executive Director Rick Manning and Board Chair Diana Riesman, who is also Executive Director of the Wharton Studio Museum.

Meet at the Picnic (Large) Pavilion.Tickets $10; students/seniors $5; children under 12 free.

Join us for a guided tour of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. We will begin at the Jean McPheeters Trailhead and visit all of the five trailheads, also including Stewart Park Trailhead, Farmers Market, Inlet Island, and Cass Park. In addition we will stop at the Rowing Panel and the Gateway to the Erie Canal Panel on Inlet Island and follow the Walk Through History guide for the Cass Park Trail. This will be a 10-mile and very flat ride at a relaxed pace. Bring your bike or grab a Limebike and see you on the trail.

Join the Community Beautification Program and Friends of Stewart Park to weed and mulch trail beds between the Pavilions and the Boathouse. This was rescheduled from last week due to high winds and the brittle waterfront willows near the beds.

Join the Friends of Stewart Park and volunteers from the Community Beautification Program for a couple hours weeding and mulching the perennial beds along the west, lake-facing parking lot in Stewart Park. Bring your favorite tools and gloves if you have them, otherwise we can provide them for you.